


A Proposed Idea

by Antleredlord



Series: The Laughing Tree [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Lyanna as the KotLT, More tags will be added later, Pre - Robert's Rebellion, The Knight of the Laughing Tree, Tourney at Harrenhal, a mini series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:22:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22609219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antleredlord/pseuds/Antleredlord
Summary: Wanting to teach a few squires a lesson, Lyanna goes to Robert and asks him to help her become a mystery knight. How could he say no to such a tempting idea?
Relationships: Robert Baratheon/Lyanna Stark
Series: The Laughing Tree [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626808
Comments: 16
Kudos: 47





	A Proposed Idea

“You want to what?”

“You heard me.” 

Robert took a moment to look Lyanna over, searching her face for any clues as to whether she was being serious or not. He had a faint smile on his lips, but she did not mirror his look of amusement. Her eyes were stone, hard and unwavering. She had a single brow raised, her arms crossed over her chest. Robert knew that look well enough. She was determined to prove herself. This was not some silly little joke. She meant business, and she was going to go through with it whether he agreed or not. 

“You must be joking,” He tried anyways, not fully trusting his own eyes, or her words. 

“I am not. I am joining the lists, and I am going to knock those pompous, vile, little creatures off their horses and teach them a lesson.” She was talking about the squires, of course. They chose the wrong person to mess with. Robert heard the whole story afterwards. A little lord from the North had arrived at Harrenhal, and almost immediately was set upon by three squires who started bullying him. Lyanna had come upon the scene and chased the boys off with a Tourney Sword. Robert would have given anything to see that sight. It apparently wasn’t enough, though. Lyanna wanted to humiliate them further. 

Robert leaned back against the table, his arms crossing across his chest, mirroring hers. “First off, those squires won’t be jousting. They will be serving the Knights they are sworn to.”

“Fine, then I will knock their knights off their horses, and then demand they make their squires pay.” 

“Second of all,” Robert continued, choosing to ignore her response for now, “They would never allow you to enter the lists.”

“And who would this ‘they’ be, my Lord, that would refuse me the chance to prove my worth?” Lyanna had pulled herself up taller, her jaw set, her eyes boring into Roberts. It was clear that she was accusing him. She always tended to get a bit too formal when she was annoyed with him, referring to him as ‘My Lord’ or ‘Lord Baratheon’. It would have been endearing, if it wasn’t for her tone. 

“Oh I don’t know,” He started listing off names on his fingers, “Maybe the Master of the Games? Or Lord Whent? The King? Every other Knight still in the lists?”

“Really?” She very nearly rolled her eyes, hearing some unspoken reason she thought she heard, “And why should they refuse a challenger? Are they that scared?”

“Because you’re a girl!” Robert finally exclaimed, stating the obvious. 

“What and you think that means I’m incapable? That I should be sitting in the stands sewing or… or… gossiping with the other ladies? I can joust, Robert. I can hold my own. I have defeated all of my brothers in the training yard, and I could beat you too if I had the chance. Don’t you-“ Lyanna would have continued. She would have started to shout about how chauvinistic he was being, but Robert interrupted her, raising his voice slightly so that she would listen. 

“And because you are a Lady, and the only daughter to one of the Great Lords of Westeros. And because you are betrothed to me. No one would dare go up against you. No one would dare risk hurting you. They know that if anything happened to you, your brothers and I would kill them. No one would compete against you even if you somehow managed to get your name entered into the lists. It doesn’t matter how good you are. It doesn’t matter if you could crush them all, which I’m not denying you could. It won’t make a difference if every one else refused to ride against you. You will have no one to compete against, Lya.” He lowered his voice again near the end, and he saw his words sink in. Her brow furrowed, a little pout forming on her lips. He was about to pull her into his arms and kiss away her frustration, but suddenly she perked up again. That shine in her eyes was back, and this time it was accompanied by a large grin.

“Then I shall enter as a mystery Knight.” She paused, but she must have seen the apprehension on Robert’s face, she must have known the arguments he was about to voice, because before he had a chance to protest her idea, she continued, speaking quickly. “It is the perfect solution. No one will know that I am a girl. No one will know that I am Lord Stark’s daughter. I will just be a mystery knight, clad in armor and my helmet at all times. Just like in the stories. I’ll enter the lists as an unknown, and prove myself in my first challenge, and then all the ones after that. And they will all try to unmask me, but none will be able to. And once I’ve won, once I have defeated the knights responsible for those toads, I will unmask myself, show the whole world that I was the one they cheered for. Humiliate the Knights by showing them that they were defeated by a girl. And most importantly, I can show all of them that just because we wear dresses, doesn’t mean girls can’t fight for themselves.”

Robert stayed quiet for a moment. It was a terrible idea, but he couldn’t help smiling with her. Her excitement was contagious. He loved seeing her like this, all riled up, determined to take her destiny into her own hands, to prove herself, to win. There was a fire about her burning brightly in her eyes. He was tempted to put all his reservations aside, to give in and allow her excitement to last. He didn’t want to be the reason that fire was turned to ash. 

The only problem was that Ned wasn’t there, and that meant that someone else had to step up and be the voice of reason. It was clear it wouldn’t be Lyanna, so it was Robert’s mantle to bear. He let out a sigh. Her name was half-way out of his mouth, before Lyanna stepped up to him and placed a hand over his mouth to stop him. 

“Don’t. Don’t tell me not to do this. I don’t need your permission, and I am doing this whether you want me to or not. I came here to tell you, -you and no one else- because I wanted you on my side for this, I wanted your support. So I am asking you -and I will even say please!- to please, please, support me. I want you on my side for this. Please.”  
That was all it took for his resolve to melt away. Those words wrapped up so nicely, dripping with sincerity. 

Well, it was that and the fact that Lyanna dropped her hand, grabbed onto his collar and pulled him down into a kiss. She had a gift, that girl. Lyanna Stark could make Robert do anything she wished. 

“Fine,” He said, when she finally pulled away from the kiss, keeping close in case she needed to persuade him some more. “But there will be conditions.” She was about to argue, there was already the smallest of pouts upon her lips, but Robert just shook his head.

“Conditions,” He repeated, “And you will adhere to them or I will make sure this doesn’t happen. I will go to the Master of the Games if I have to.” He knew her well enough to know that Lyanna would be true to her word. She was going to do this with or without his help. So, he might as well be there at her side to make sure she didn’t get herself killed. 

“First,” Robert started, “Before you do anything, we are going out into the woods and you are going to practice. You may be good, I won’t deny you that, but you have never been in a Tournament before. This is the best of the best. Men who have been jousting since the day they could sit on a horse. You need to show me that you can do this and you aren’t going to go out there and get yourself killed.”

Lyanna rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, “You just like watching me ride,”

“True,” Robert grinned, “But I also like you, and I would like you to still be around after all of this,” He kissed her forehead and then her lips, “Second, if at any point it gets to be to much, you back down. Don’t try and push yourself just to prove a point.”

“And do I get to decide when it gets to be ‘too much’?” 

“I am smarter than that, Lya.” Robert chuckled and the pout returned on Lyanna’s face, “No, if at any point I see something I deem too dangerous for you, then you step down.”

“Are you-“

Robert was the one to cut her off this time, placing his own hand over her lips, partially to stop her from speaking but also so she couldn’t use them to get her way again, “No, this is the deal. If you want to go through with this, if you want my support, then these are the conditions.”

“Fine.” She sighed, her words half-mumbled from behind the palm of his hand, “Is that all then?”

“No. Third, if anyone one hurts you, I get to punch them in the face at least three times,” Robert felt her lips turn up into a smile and he dropped his hand, matching her grin.

“Deal. Now, can we get started? At this rate the Jousting will be over before we even begin,”

He pulled her into one last kiss. He still wasn’t sure why he was going along with this plan. Lyanna just had a way of making things seem like a good idea. Not only that, but she was also the best of the best at convincing Robert to do pretty much anything she wanted. She was impossible to say no to. Still, this was a sketchy plan at best. Someone was going to find out and they would be caught sooner or later. Robert just wasn’t sure what would be worse, the Master of the Games finding out or Lyanna’s brothers. Either way he and Lyanna would get in trouble, and more than likely Robert would be the one to take most of the blame. 

When it all came down to it, though, it was worth it. The smile that was currently stretched across Lyanna’s face, added to the light that was shining in her eyes, and the complete and utter excitement that was emanating from her entire body, all of that combined made the decision simple. Robert was willing to get thrown into the cavernous dungeons of Harrenhal, if only to see Lyanna like this for a little while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I have had floating around for years but I just recently decided to put it down in writing. I always loved the idea of Lyanna being the Knight of the Laughing Tree, and I am pretty sure Robert would have loved it too. So I figured it would be fun to write out. I did read this over at least 20 times before posting, but sometimes I miss simple errors, so please excuse any that you see. Hope you enjoyed!


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